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Seven Egyptian women talk about their experience of sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo. It is an increasingly common problem, with a recent survey suggesting more than four out of five women have been sexually harassed, while nearly two-thirds of men admitted assaulting women. (Source)

Exercise may help improve mental performance in adults with mild memory problems, research suggests.... Writing in the journal, the researchers said:

"Unlike medication, which was found to have no significant effect on mild cognitive impairment at 36 months, physical activity has the advantage of health benefits that are not confined to cognitive function alone, as suggested by findings on depression, quality of life, falls, cardiovascular function, and disability."

A British court found a devout Muslim guilty of cruelty today for forcing two teenagers to flog themselves until their backs bled during a Shia religious ceremony. A jury at Manchester Crown Court convicted Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, on two counts of child cruelty over the incidents, during a ceremony in January to commemorate the death of the spiritual leader of Shia Muslims. (Source)

A Palestinian couple locked their disabled son and daughter in two stinking, urine-stained rooms for four decades out of fear they would ruin the marriage prospects of a healthy child if discovered, police said today... Last year, a 17-year-old youth with mental disabilities who was thrown into a large garbage bin. The boy had scars on his stomach, neck, hands and feet where he'd apparently been tied up...The siblings' father, Ibrahim Musalmeh, married his first cousin decades ago and had eight children - five disabled children who died in childhood, Nawal and Bassam, and another son, who has since married... Arab communities often favour marriages between first cousins as a way of keeping inheritances within the family. It is not considered incest, and there is little awareness that marriage between close relatives increases the chances of having children with disabilities. (Source)

Martian soil appears to contain sufficient nutrients to support life - or, at least, asparagus - Nasa scientists believe. Preliminary analysis by the $420m (?210m) Phoenix Mars Lander mission on the planet's soil found it to be much more alkaline than expected... "We basically have found what appears to be the requirements, the nutrients, to support life, whether past, present or future," said Tufts University's Professor Sam Kounaves. (Source)

Nasa's Phoenix lander spacecraft has for the first time identified water in a sample of soil collected from the planet's surface...Scientists will now be able to begin studying the sample to see whether the planet was ever, or is, habitable. (Source) PERSONAL COMMENT: This is a breakthrough. Water, one of the most crucial ingredients of life, is actually found on another planet!

A DEADLY 17-bomb terrorist attack on the Indian city of Ahmedabad just one day after eight blasts rocked the southern city of Bangalore has left Indians wondering which city will be targeted next. Up to 45 people were killed and about 150 injured in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the western state of Gujarat, when bombs went off across the city over 70 minutes on Saturday night. This followed a 35-minute series of bomb blasts across Bangalore on Friday afternoon which left two dead. (Source)

Polygamy is illegal in western countries, including Australia. Marriage is between a man and a woman: not a man and many women. But some muslims have more than one wives. Attorney-General Robert McClelland asserts that this is not to continue. Sheik Khalil Chami says, 'Why not change the law?'. (Source)

A breakthrough in space exploration: Ice may have been found on Mars. The implications of this, if it is indeed ice opens up a lot of possibilities, considering that water is vital to life. If there is water in Mars then we ask: how abundant is water in terrestrial planets, in our solar system or in others? [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=t2ssGtZjtkk[/youtube]